Question for Hunters that skin

T

Temper

Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
3,011
Guys, a customer of mine here used his CRK Ubejane to skin & butcher a black bear his dad shot. While he was using the knife he mistakenly put it into the leather sheath with some blood and gore on it, and as a result of that it stinks to high heaven.

Are there any remedies to get rid of blood stink from leather sheaths without damaging them?

Cheers
 
doesnt CR watertreat their leather? he should be able to just wash it out with water but maybe thats just the outside of it. did he try febreeze?
 
None in my experience. Body fluid odors are almost impossible to remove from hides(or other natural fibers) once permeated. That is, of course, without damage and my humble experience.

Just wanted to add that there are oils that can help cover the smell and maybe make the odor disappear over time. I have used mink oil to cover animal urine odor on boots.
 
I'm pretty sure its the bacteria that makes the stink, once they die the smell foes away, or at least for the most part. I might be tempted to use a little salt water to kill anything alive and then rinse and give a good waxing/oil after it has dried.

I just wanted to know if there is an old 'trick' that does it without the uncertainty of water.

Thanks for the replies so far. :thumbup:
 
Pack the sheath with barely damp (not wet) baking soda and leave it in a warm place for a day or two. You may have to use a small brush to get it all back out, but it will work, and not damage the sheath.

Codger
PS - another thought is hunter's "scent away" descenting spray. It may just be a baking soda solution, but it works. Fabreeze is an upholstery cleaner/descenter. It might work too.
 
Temper, try using saddle soap with a damp sponge or cloth. You can "rinse" with a freshly dampened cloth/sponge. Saddle soap is made for washing leather products. You can dry it with a hair dryer on the cool setting or what I do is place it in front of a box fan to dry. Re-apply some sort of leather conditioner.
Scott
 
Just a few points:
mymindisamob said:
...there are oils that can help cover the smell and maybe make the odor disappear over time. I have used mink oil to cover animal urine odor on boots.
Click to expand...
Some oils can help cover-up. However, you must balance the odor benefit with the decrease in leather life. Excessive minks oil will shorten the life of your leather. These "conditioning oils" soften the leather. The means by which they soften the leather will actually shorten the lifespan. Numerous GIs try to soften their boots for SF selection with minks oil. The boots pretty much fall apart by the end of the 21 days...if they are lucky enough to last that long. Of course, that is a tough use 21 days and your sheath probably doesn't have that degree of functional/mechanical use.
Temper said:
I'm pretty sure its the bacteria that makes the stink, once they die the smell foes away, or at least for the most part...
Click to expand...
The bacteria in and of their own do not have an "odor" like body odor. They create odor through the breakdown of surrounding organic material. The "decomp" odor is formed by breakdown of organic material and residual volatile organic oils/acids/etc... If the odor is there, killing the bacteria will not eliminate it. These "decomp" odors are some of the most difficult to eliminate. They will actually bind in a biochemical manner to organic material i.e. human skin and leather. At the morgue, workers can be left with this stench for days and weeks of heavy skin cleaning! I can only imagine how difficult it will be for you to remove this stink from leather if it is really bad.:(

you might want to do a thorough web search.
 
Chas Clements makes leather sheaths and does restoration, you might want to drop him an email. You can find his contact into on rec.knives.

-Cliff
 
maybe easier to contact CRK see how much a replacement sheathe costs??? (maybe more 'cost efficient' then all that time to clean with little or no success........)
 
i recomend some sno-seal for when hes got the smell out. i treat alot of my leather stuff with it. ive even used it one swuede to give it a "used" appearance and to also protect it from this sort of stuff happening.
 
The only febreeze (sp) I've ever come across is pretty strong smelling. Is there an unscented type?

If the smell is bacterial have him pour some rubbing alcohol inside the sheath, let it soak in, and then just let it dry. Maybe one of the leathersmiths will need to correct me, but I don't think alcohol itself will hurt the leather as long as he doesn't do anything to stretch it out while it's wet.

Or maybe a borax/baking soda mix? I've used borax on squirrel and rabbit hides, it did a pretty good job of keeping the smell down.

Other than that, maybe just hang it in a mesh bag in a shady spot outside and let oxygen take its course? Whatever's inside there is going to stay inside there.
 
Bingo on the baking soda. 20-Mule-Team Borax also works pretty well.
 
While he was using the knife he mistakenly put it into the leather sheath with some blood and gore on it, and as a result of that it stinks to high heaven.
Click to expand...
(bold emphasis by me ;) )

How is he going to get the baking soda/freebreeze/saddlesoap/whatever into and out of the sheath?

Call Normark.
Get Kydex.
Toss leather sheath.
Problem solved.
Or...
Contact CRK for a new sheath.

If you don't get the blood and gunk out you run the risk of rust and pitting the blade.
Why take that chance with a quality knife?
 
Wash it in warm water and baking soda solution. It won't melt. Dry it out and oil it proper and stop sniffing it.:D I have never had my knife "stink to high heaven" from a little blood or gore.
 
Thanks guys, he actually has one of these for the Skinner, he just likes the leather one too.

Auriga03.jpg
 
Ebbtide said:
(bold emphasis by me ;) )

How is he going to get the baking soda/freebreeze/saddlesoap/whatever into and out of the sheath?

Call Normark.
Get Kydex.
Toss leather sheath.
Problem solved.
Or...
Contact CRK for a new sheath.

If you don't get the blood and gunk out you run the risk of rust and pitting the blade.
Why take that chance with a quality knife?
Click to expand...

What was the emphasis for?
 
Ebbtide said:
How is he going to get the baking soda/freebreeze/saddlesoap/whatever into and out of the sheath?
Click to expand...
If it were my mistake and my sheath, I wouldn't even wet it. I'd just pack the sheath with dry baking soda and let it sit. It will soak up any moisture, clump around any left over gore, and dissipate bad odors. After about a week I'd dig out as much as I could with a popsicle stick or whatever. The rest would come out by either vacuuming it or by blowing it out with a compressor--probably the latter option is better. Not a big deal.

I like the SnoSeal for leather too. Seems to waterproof most leathers nicely without breaking them down in the same way that Mink Oil does. You heat the leather (I use a hair dryer), and it actually absorbs the SnoSeal, which has a waxy base to it. Buff to a nice shine.
 
The word "into" was bold.
I was under the impression that the gunk was in the sheath as opposed to on the outside.

If it is in the sheath it would be hard to clean and know for certain if it was all out.
If it were my CRK, I'd chalk it up to experience & replace the sheath.
Or make one.
But that's me ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top